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Noctua
, , , , , , , | abbreviation = Noc | genitive = Noctae | pronounce = Nok•tö•wä | symbolism = The | dino = Deskiu | dinoabbrev = Des | dinogen = Deskuo | dinopronounce = Des•kū | mRA = a | mdec= | ndec = | sdec = | wRA = | eRA = | quadrant = NQ3 | bordering = Avis Felis Simianus Tarandus | area = 4590.419 sq. deg. (2nd) | proportion = 111.275‰ | average = 573.802 sq. deg. (5th) | namedstars = 37 | mainstars = 8 | nakedeyestars = 347 | bfstars = 387 | ehstars = 45 | brightstars = 13 | brighteststar = (−0.04 ) | nearbystars = 24 | neareststar = (3.35 , 10.94 ) | messierobjects = 26 | fullrange = 60°N–34°S | partialrange = 90°N–60°N, 34°S–90°S | date = April 20a | solarzodiac = 9/16–11/22 | tropicalzodiac = 8/24–10/23 | siderealzodiac = 9/16–11/15 }} Noctua (Latin for ) is a caelregio with midpoint located in third of the . The , , and cross this caelregio. Noctua is composed of eight s (the list is at the top of the infobox to the right), including , which is one of the second largest constellation. Noctua covers about 111‰ of the sky with an area of 4590 square degrees, making it the second largest caelregio after Chtapodi. Noctua is the only caelregio with two parts with smaller part being Serpens Cauda, which is one of two parts of . is directly named after the where it was located between the end of the 's tail and . Notable stars Bright stars At a of −0.04, a is the Noctua's brightest star, located in . Arcturus, along with Spica, Cor Caroli, and , make up the with three stars (not Cor Caroli) making up the . The other notable bright stars in Noctua are * –– a 0.98m giant located in Virgo. Spica is one of the four brightest stars near the , the others are in Simianus, in Felis, and in Araneus; * –– a 2.21m located in ; * –– a 2.61m B-type main sequence located in Libra; * –– a 2.63m K-type giant located in Serpens; and * –– a 2.90m A-type main sequence located in . Nearby stars At a of 10.94 s, the is the Noctua's nearest star. Variable stars is a located in Canes Venatici. It brightness fluctuates from 2.84 to 2.98 with a period of 5.47 days. in Boötes is a of plus a . The magnitude varies from 5.80 to 6.40 with a 6.43-hour period. The components of the eclipsing binary are separated by just 0.008 AU, which is three times the Earth-Moon separation. Planetary systems As of April 6, 2011, there are 45 known s in Noctua. The notable example is (P1 Noc) in Virgo, which has three s. The two most massive planets are the first confirmed s dating back in 1992. Another example is (P10 Noc) in Libra which has four confirmed planets and two unconfirmed additional planets. The unconfirmed planet (Zarmina, P466) would be the most yet as it lies in the middle of the . This planet has a mass of 4.35 and orbits at a distance of 0.146 (Earth–Sun distance). Also in Virgo, (P29 Noc) has three planets: one super-Earth and two midplanets; and likely more. 61 Virginis is speculated to have nine planets. Another planetary system of interest is (P30 Noc) in Serpens. COROT-9 has a temperate that lies in the Mercury-like distance from the star. The planet (P404) has a period of 95 days compared to 88 days for . The mass of this planet is 5/6 the mass of but slightly larger in size, yielding a density slightly lower than water. Notable deep sky objects Noctua contains the famous containing many individual galaxies. The examples of galaxies outside the Virgo Cluster are the ( 51a, 5194), (NGC 4631), , (M63), and , which are all located in Canes Venatici. In Virgo, the (M104), which is an nearly edge-on, can be seen famous. The most famous (also called Virgo A) can also be seen famous in Virgo. Also in Virgo, the can be seen. M86 is close to another lenticular galaxy . is another elliptical galaxy in Virgo which may be interacting with a nearby spiral companion . All of these galaxies in this paragraph are members of the Virgo Cluster. , which was a first identified in 1963, is also located in Virgo. , which is a spiral that is the strong , is located in Canes Venatici. In Serpens, the ( 54559) can be found, which is an unusual type of galaxy called the . Also in Serpens, there is , which is the largest lenticular galaxy known at 5.5 million light-years across located 1.07 billion light-years from the at the center of the . Again in this constellation, there is the (M16), which we call the Pillars of Creation, can be found. Yet again in Serpens, there is the (MWC 922), which is a discovered just recently, in April 2007. In Corvus, the (NGC 4038/9) can be found, in which a pair of galaxies are merging together to form one supergalaxy. In Coma Berenices, the (NGC 4676) is a merging pair of spiral galaxies in . Also in this constellation, there are the spiral galaxies and the (M64, also known as the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy or the Evil Eye Galaxy). This caelregio also contains the (Mel 111), which is an containing about 40 stars in Coma Berenices. This cluster lies 288 light-years distant, twice as far as the in Araneus. It covers an area of 5° on the sky. Gallery Notable meteor showers Every year on January 3–4, the (also called Noctids) peak, caused by the . During this , up to 40 meteors per hour would be visible. This meteor shower is named after the where it is now part of Boötes. Visibility In the northern hemisphere, Noctua can be visible during the first two months of fall. Since Noctua is an equatorial caelregio, it can be seen from around the world, but all of it can only be visible from 60°N down to 35°S. The whole caelregio be seen from most of Americas including the United States, Africa, most of Eurasia, and most of Oceania. The most prominent constellation in Noctua is Boötes, which contains three bright stars including a star below zero magnitude. Seven out of eight constellations in this caelregio contain at least one star brighter than 3.00 magnitude. Zodiac In 2011, the appears to cross Noctua from September 16 till November 22; it crosses the constellations Virgo (September 16 till October 30) and then Libra (October 31 till November 22). This al caelregio is located between Felis to the west and Simianus to the east. Notes Note a: Does not include Serpens Cauda separated from the main region. Category:Articles Category:Caelregios